British golfers laid low by Luke Donald disease of underachievement

It's now been one solid decade since a Brit won a major championship, and the
reason behind the drought seems fairly obvious to this Yank: most of the top
British players are suffering from various degrees of Luke Donald Disease.

Off-line: Luke Donald plays from the rough at Turnberry, but he has failed to realise his potentialPhoto: GETTY IMAGES

By Barker Davis of the Washington Times

4:00PM BST 25 Jul 2009

Your man from Hemel Hempstead is the personification of what's wrong with professional golf on both sides of the Atlantic. In his eight-plus years, Donald has won four third-tier events (two each on the PGA and European Tours), made a minor rustle in one major (T3 at 2006 US PGA) and somehow collected over $15 million in prize money for such an indifferent effort.

His backdoor top-five finish last week at Turnberry, where he didn't need to execute a single shot in the crucible of actual contention, was vintage Donald. Thanks for the cameo. Thanks for the cheque. Now back to the States for more of the same.

Donald isn't a bad guy. In fact, he's quite a pleasant fellow. He just isn't a driven one. And it's easy to understand why. Between his career earnings and cushy endorsement deals with Ralph Lauren and Mizuno, Donald has become a very wealthy man for a player with just four unremarkable victories on his resume. And as a result, the Donald some once labelled the "next Faldo" now looks more like the next Howard Clark.

He represents one half of the equation often referred to as 'The Tiger Effect'. When Woods turned professional in 1996, PGA Tour purses totalled just under $66 million; this season, even in a recession year, that total is a shade over $277 million. That's better than a 400 per cent increase in 13 years. Two primary types of players have emerged as a result: wealthy complacent fat cats (mostly his contemporaries) and wannabe Tigers (mostly success-driven youngsters he has inspired).

The outspoken Faldo was dead-on, if typically blunt, when he compared the former group to the European icons of the 1980s (Faldo, Seve Ballesteros, Ian Woosnam, Sandy Lyle and Bernhard Langer) at the 2007 British Open:

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"We had to play well to be here. We had to win to create what everyone now refers to as a brand. Now these guys have a brand within a year. They can be millionaires in six months... We had to win to have a future. Now you just have to get out there and be a very good golfer."

Given that lack of financial hunger, the game's Donalds are allowed to float into their mid-30s before they realise their careers have been lucrative but historically irrelevant and personally unfulfilling. The light goes on. The work ethic and ardour double. But for all but the most sublime talents, and none of those are Brits, there's still a learning curve involved in winning majors.

Faldo needed five top-10 major finishes before breaking through at the 1987 Open. Padraig Harrington needed eight near-misses before doing the business at Carnoustie. Stewart Cink had logged eight major top-10s before breaking through on the Ailsa Course.

"I just felt so calm," said Cink, perhaps putting his finger on the serenity that comes with the requisite major experience. "I did not feel at all today in a situation [where] in the past I would be extremely nervous."

In that respect, Lee Westwood's seventh top-10 without a victory at Turnberry isn't out of line with the standard Slam learning curve. Westwood didn't choke at Turnberry. He responded to his consecutive back-nine bogeys with a brilliant five-iron to the 17th and a putt which deserved an eagle and a heroic bunker play at the 18th. His three-putt mental error at the 72nd hole, which mirrored Colin Montgomerie's at Winged Foot, was a product of a lack of major seasoning. The problem is that Westwood is learning the painful major lessons he should have learned in his 20s at the ages of 35 (2008 US Open) and 36 (2009 Open).

And most of the top Brits are well behind Westwood when it comes to major experience. World No3 Paul Casey hasn't notched a single top-five finish at a Slam. And though he's in the midst of an ugly season, Justin Rose is much further advanced when it comes to major preparedness (if judged by his five top-10s) than Ian Poulter (2), Ross Fisher (1) or Nick Dougherty (1).

For those of us in the States, the real pair to watch from the UK became obvious after the proceedings at Turnberry: Rory McIlroy finished T47 at Turnberry, and the 20-year-old was properly disgusted by his play. And Chris Wood posted a second consecutive top-five at the Open, banking invaluable major experience at 21. Here's to hoping both understand that golf's mountain of immortality isn't made of euros.